


Tag, You’re It

by The_Unqualified1



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Competition, F/F, I can’t believe you’re reading this, Modern, Parkour, So incredibly silly, Ultimate Tag AU, game show, i can’t believe I wrote this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:28:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25683553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Unqualified1/pseuds/The_Unqualified1
Summary: Edelgard, a competitor on this weeks edition of Ultimate Tag is tough, confident, and athletic. She’s also immediately smitten with one of the blue haired, blue eyed taggers.
Relationships: Edelgard von Hresvelg/My Unit | Byleth
Comments: 20
Kudos: 63





	Tag, You’re It

**Author's Note:**

> This started as a complete joke of an idea based on this actiony game show (and then unrelated I found out there’s actually a worldwide competition of tagging.) 
> 
> But the shows called Ultimate Tag and basically they have this colorful cast of characters that are athletes of different backgrounds and operate under like, personas? Like The Flame, Atomic Ant, Banshee, and they partake in the chasing of the everyday people on the show. Anyway that idea spawned this AU. I fully wrote this for the group of 6 people that are Fire Emblem fans that typically watch this with me, and that is because I am a big believer in write what you’d want to see. If it gets more than 10 hits I will be shocked and apologetic 😂 This is just in good fun, and a bit of a change of pace from my typical serious series that I’m usually so focused on. It’s been a blast to write, so if you are here and still considering reading I hope you will enjoy! And I recommend the attached links! (at least the first one, only bout 30 seconds)
> 
> Show Trailer  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVeYOFbHjxE
> 
> Actual Sport  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IS-5tBlSAoA

“Hey there, I’m Claude Von Riegan, and Welcome to Ultimate Tag!” Claude’s voice rang out into his mic and over the crowded tv audience. “Where we’ve taken a childhood game and made it way more complicated. Adding in challenging obstacles, unique courses, and world class athletes.” The audience applauded, waving light-up sticks and homemade signs for their favorite athletes.

“Now this group is fast, furious, and ultra-competitive. Stepping into the rink with them is a tough draw for anyone, wouldn’t you say Balthus?”

“Absolutely.” Spoke his co host with his deep booming voice. “But we found 6 more competitors who were crazy enough to try. Let’s meet the first half!”

Edelgard sat in the front row of the audience, watching the first three athletes being introduced, and nervously bouncing her leg as she waited for her heat to start. The male competitors video packages played on the large screen, introducing a college handball player named Ignatz in the green vest, a hunting enthusiast named Ashe in the blue, and a skiing instructor named Ferdinand in the red.

“Now the rules are quite simple really.” The third host spoke up, a shorter girl with white streaked hair. "Players are released at the start into our u-shaped course and can go anywhere they please. There are hurdles to climb, levels to play on, and corners and blocks to hide around. Wherever you can go to escape being tagged. One tagger will be released at a time. If they grab one of the flags hanging off our challengers vests, they’re out.” She flexed her thumb over her shoulder to emphasize her point. “And the next tagger is released.”

“Couldn’t have said it better myself Lys. The aim of the game is to outlast your other competitors.” Balthus added. “Get out first, you get a single point, get out second you get two, last til the end you get 3 big boys.”

“Plus a time bonus point if you last over 2 minutes.” Lysithea added. “Let’s see if any of them can pull that off.”

“It’s gonna be tough,” Claude agreed. “Especially against _this_ talented trio of taggers!”

The large mega-screen on the far wall kicked up again showing three athletes in colorful athletic costumes. They were in persona modes, almost like wrestlers, Edelgard mused. The girl in the middle caught her eye. She was… _damn_ , gorgeous.

“First up, our boxer! He may not be unleashing a sucker punch, but you better believe his footwork is something to be feared.”

 **_‘Boxer - Mixed martial arts specialist’_ ** popped up in bright neon text along the bottom of the screen, highlighting a shorter athlete with tousled neon blue hair and an almost boyish smirk. He had his hands wrapped as they would be under gloves, wore a skin tight black shiny sleeveless shirt and baggier black shorts with light blue lightning marks up the side. His intro showed his footwork off in a large open gym as he quick stepped around a punching bag, unleashing a flurry of punches, and his voice over kicked in.

“Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. I’ll hit first and ask questions never.”

The screen cued to black, and Edelgard had to admit he looked talented. She thought she’d seen the guy on the fighting circuit in the past. They really had some talented people agreeing to play a large recess game.

“Second’s our ex-CIA operative, and no I’m not kidding. Im legit scared of this guy.” Claude’s voice carried with his usual bravado.

The soundtrack changed as the next hype video started, with an almost bored looking man sporting a full body suit that mirrored that of a video game spy. Small purple and charcoal puffy vest with straps that look more for show than function, and holsters around his thighs. His lavender hair was cut in uneven strands and hung over his shoulder where it was loosely wrapped.

 ** _‘The Reaper - Ex-CIA’_** Scrolled along the bottom of the screen. He posed with his arms crossed and pointed a finger gun at the camera.

“This is going to be a major pain… for you. There’s a reason they say: Fear the Reaper.” Spoke the admittedly intimidating looking man as the graphics swirled around the screen and faded to black.

 _Certainly made for an interesting cast._ The screen flashed to the girl with piercing cobalt eyes again. _Ooh… she liked her._ Edelgard found herself leaning forward in her seat.

“Finally rounding up our first batch of taggers is our mute athlete. She lets her actions speak for themselves, let’s meet her.”

When the video started the girl was in a full handstand on a metal railing. Her ensemble was charcoal head to toe with mesh windows randomly cut along the legs of her pants, and mirrored around her midsection, failing to conceal her stone cut abs. Her blue hair hung over her shoulders and the camera panned between her exposed (and toned) arms and looked straight up at those piercing eyes. She looked down, dead in the lens, and tilted her head in a curious way before pushing her momentum forward into a flip and sprinting toward the wall, taking one, two, three steps before pushing off into a slow-motion wall flip where she disappeared into smoke just before landing.

The camera panned side to side, as if looking for her, then a hand reached across the lens and tilted it up to where she sat perched on the railing once more. Head hung slightly to the side, eyes still incredibly vibrant while the rest of her expression remained blank.

 **_‘Demon - Free-runner and Escape artist’_ **passed along the bottom of the screen, before the smoke effect played again and she vanished.

Edelgard found herself blushing, transfixed already with the seemingly cryptic Demon.

“Alright athletes, hope you’re ready.” Lysithea said into her mic. “Chase tag starts in, 3, 2, 1.” On the 1 a loud horn blared to signal the beginning of the round and gave the contestants a 5 second head-start, as they all ran off toward the left half of the maze, weaving around hurdles and ducking under levels before the three boys came to hideout near the corner farthest away.

Edelgard watched as the first tagger was released, Boxer, who ran straight at them and juked around the hurdles before coming to stand on a raised platform looking down at the three. The boy in the green vest, Ignatz, tried to peel off around him and that was his undoing, as Boxer immediately descended and pursued, committing and laying out into a dive after he tried to turn a corner, pulling his flag free.

“That’s a tag!” Balthus cheered. “In about 20 seconds flat, our taggers are starting out strong.” The Boxer held his fists up in the air as if he had just won a match and hopped out of the rink with that same goofy grin.

The second tagger was released, The Reaper, who entered the rink with an almost casual pace, slowly hurdling the obstacles with an effortless ease.

“Next on the course is the only guy that I think has actually killed someone.” Lysithea said. Claude nodded in agreement.

“If I see him in the break room I just offer him my lunch money, he doesn’t have to ask.” he added in comical banter, getting a laugh from the audience.

He pursued them both a little longer, taking obstacles and trailing as if sizing up his prey until the boy in the red vest put out his arms as a challenge, as if asking ‘what’re you gonna do?’ Then he covered the ground between them in three swift steps as the boy swiftly realized his mistake. He tried to round a corner, and was immediately tackled to the ground with his flag ending up in the Reaper’s hand, who walked away holding it up for all to see before exiting the rink. The crowd cheered and the boy looked dazed.

“Taunting the Reaper, not a smart move.” Lysithea commented, and her co-hosts were all too eager to agree. “But it does leave us with one challenger, and our last tagger entering the rink. Demon is on deck.”

Edelgard’s eyes widened seeing the girl in action. She really did move like smoke. Her maneuvers were airless, and she practically wisped through the arena, as she’d vault hurdles in a single bound and in the next step carry her momentum over a platform, catching herself on her hands and propelling forward. No action was wasted, and as the boy in the blue vest tried to juke in a direction, she seemed to predict it and was upon him in a flash, sliding behind and taking the tag with her. Effortlessly.

She held up the blue thin flag overhead and dropped it, turning on her heel as it fluttered, not waiting to watch it hit the ground. She hopped the barricade closest to Edelgard and looked up, and that same curious head tilt from the video… the same passive expression… but those eyes. They were something else. Like swirling cosmos and galaxies. Shooting stars she wished she could wish on.

She looked to her side and saw a stage manager dressed in black and with a clipboard waving her down from the bleachers, and the next batch of contestants she was running with all rose to head down to the arena floor. She looked back briefly and saw with a flush that the indigo-haired girl was indeed still looking her way. She gave a curt nod, one Edelgard returned, for a reason she wasn’t sure. But she liked her watching.

_I’ll give her something to stare at._

She thought with a hint of challenge as she took her spot.

“Let’s meet the ladies competing this evening!” Claude’s voice rang out. The three of them walked from their first mark to the entrance left around the hip high barricades, signaling the start of the course. A video package played introducing her two competitors. The first in the blue vest was a college swimmer named Annette, the second in the green vest was a CrossFit athlete named Hilda, and then her video played out, and she couldn’t help it. She turned back to find those cosmic eyes again, and they were watching the screen, as a mega sized version of her interview from earlier that day played out.

“I’ve done a little of everything. Pole vault, baseball, ice skating, ultimate frisbee. I come from a big family, so anything my siblings were interested in, I became their practice partner. I like to say I haven’t found a challenge I can’t take yet. Today’s is another day to prove that.”

Her video ended and she turned again to see the Demon looking her way, a bit of appreciation seemed to resonate behind those glowing irises. And damn, she had to stop staring on live tv at this enchantress across the way. _Time to focus in._ She shook out her wrists and shifted her weight from side to side.

“And let’s see the taggers they’ll be dealing with!” Lysithea called into her mic, and the video stream cut to three headshots of new equally colorful characters, before cueing their hype videos.

“It’s our vixen huntress. She’s exotic, she’s fast, and if she’s got you in her sight’s it’s already too late.”

 **_‘The Kraken - Aerial Acrobat and Archer’_ ** Announced the next combatant. She was tan as leather, her hair in a braided magenta high ponytail, and she was suspended in the air, in a full split, feet wrapped in two cloth ribbons hanging from the ceiling. She spun slowly to face the camera and revealed a dagger between her teeth. In a flash she released one side and took up the dagger, cutting the cloth holding her up, and as she fell, she threw the blade toward the wall. The camera pulled back to show her shot connect with a painted target, dead center and show her land in a pool beneath. A moment later she resurfaced through the water in a slow-motion cut as the droplets bounced off her toned arms and whipped off her hair. She came to cross her arms on the edge of the pool and looked dead in the lens with an eager glint in her eyes.

“I am being the Hunter. You are being the prey. And I can be the everywhere at once.”

 _A little cheesy._ Edelgard thought. But also, damn. These intros were getting creative. Lysithea carried into the next one.

“Our second runner is one tough cookie, and she typically eats all the cookies of the craft service table. I wouldn’t wanna fly in her air space.”

The next tagger appeared, sliding across the length of the silver wings of a parked plane, and landing onto the ground beneath, dirt kicking up around her black boots.

 **_‘Pegasus - Stuntwoman and Pilot’_ ** Read her intro card. Her ensemble was black tights with teal details and a teal cropped tank. Her arms both donned wing tattoos on her exposed shoulders, and her expression was one of indifference but complacence, with a sporty short blonde hairdo to match. She pulled a pilots jacket that hung off the end of the plane wing and donned the brown leather, dusting her hands off on the sleeves then looking in the camera.

“It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s… your worst nightmare.”

She turned and ran a few steps to where a pane of glass was propped up and jumped through, knees out and arms crossed, glass shattering around the impact with a horse whinny sound effect ringing out as it faded to black.

“Finally the only person I know that says ‘Do you even lift bro?’ unironically. He’s a teddy bear off the court, absolute beast on it.”

 **_‘Jackhammer - Strongman’_ ** Read out at the intro of the video. A giant tractor tire stood upright in the middle of the screen and a large burly man came barrelling toward it, before diving through the opening, and rolling into a somersault. He stuck his legs in a power squat position, flexing his arms and smiling into the camera lense with his shaggy blonde hair and strong jaw. His arms practically popped out of his orange sleeveless hoodie, and he wore dark brown pants with white pinning following from the bottoms to the top.

“Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, Jack be JACKED.”

He turned around and reached for the tire flipping it out of frame with a yell, then holding his hands out and pulsing them as if he were operating construction equipment.

Members of the audience replicated what Edelgard assumed was his signature move as the video came to a close.

“First on deck is The Kraken, let’s see how she intends to sink their flags, and take some tags.” Balthus hyped as the house lights came down, every spotlight turning to the floor with the screen flashing ‘3, 2. 1’ and the alarms blaring to show the start of the round.

The three ladies ran off through the black and neon of the course, Edelgard vaulting one of the hurdles while the others went side to side. As they got the first fork she decided to be bold and break away from the group, veering to the left while they both went right. She got across to the far platform by a tube and ducked down, semi-obscured from view, and squatting to be ready should she need to.

“Tagger Enter.” Claude called down, and the Kraken was off. A glint of excitement in her eye as her long braided hair caught behind her in the wind. Her outfit was something tight-fitting and in shades of dark purple and gold.

She quickly veered toward the right, either not noticing Edelgard or deciding that she liked the odds stacked in her favor. As she neared in on the two competitors, who were boxed in on either side of the furthest platform, she wasted no time picking a target and lunged for the girl in blue, who seemed caught off-guard at the speed of the act.

She dove back out of the way, but lost her footing and slid while she stumbled to catch herself. Kraken, recovering much faster, reached again and grabbed her vest before reaching over with her other hand and pulling the tag with a giggle. She straightened out her competitor putting her back on her feet and the girl in blue shook her head bummed, but smiled at the tagger.

“Wow, you are _fast.”_

“I am the thanking you.” Kraken smiled, and ran up to the barricade waving to the fans before jumping out and heading to the bleachers where the rest of the runners sat. She high-fived the Boxer and Demon gave her a thumbs up.

Now Demon found herself watching the girl in red with the silver hair, wondering what she would do. But there was something about her that looked like… _fun._

“Looks like our first competitor is out, leaving Edelgard and Hilda.” Claude’s voice rang out. He elbowed gently at his co host. “Ay you know you and that girl in the red should swap hair-care tips. Maybe you even get it dyed at the same place.” He teased.

Lysithea scowled.

“Lots of people have this color now Claude. But I will say… she can pull it off pretty well. Almost as good as me.”

 _Yeah… she can._ Demon found herself thinking. _Better even._

“Entering the ring now is Pegasus! Let’s see what kinda horsepower she’s got under the hood, huh guys?” Balthus said excitedly. Lysithea and Cladue both stifled a groan. Their co host always had a way with puns.

Pegasus entered the ring with the leather coat she’d had on in the video hanging over her shoulder, looked side to side, and dropped it to the ground as she let out a gruff of effort and beelined for Edelgard.

She noticed right away that she wasn’t as fast as the last runner, but she looked equally determined. When she neared in and made to hop the platform, Edelgard made her move and slid through the tunnel under Pegasus, quickly bouncing back to her feet as she heard her double back. Edelgard bobbed between the first two hurdles, before making it back to the rounded out area, diving over the last platform and rolling forward on a shoulder as she heard her catching up behind her.

When she landed back on her feet she saw where her competitor had stationed herself on the opposite end of the U-shaped track and smiled, getting an idea. She started heading her way, keeping a few steps ahead of Pegasus, who’s green irises flared the longer the challenge went. The pink haired runner’s eyes widened as she came closer, realizing what was happening, and Edelgard ran up alongside her.

“Didn’t want you to miss the party.” Edelgard smiled slyly, slightly out of breath. As they broke off again, Pegasus looked between the two and decided to switch gears, going for the girl in green instead. Hilda managed to run to a small tower, not very wide but enough to get herself on one side, Pegasus on the other, both trying to see who would make the first move. Hilda broke off to the side, Pegasus hot on her trail.

She bobbed between two hurdles, and Pegasus took the fast way, sliding over it, and caught up, cornering Hilda and making the snag.

“And that’s a tag! Clever move by Edelgard, bringing Pegasus back toward a new target.” Claude called out with an appreciative nod.

“Pretty sneaky sis.” Hilda shook her head with a laugh as she walked off.

“Last one standing is Edelgard, and she’s still about a minute from the bonus point, let’s see how she can hang with Jackhammer.”

The blonde boy was hopping with excitement at the entrance, and looked like a bull that had finally been unleashed as he barreled into the arena.

As he neared, Edelgard found a platform to hop to, then another, causing him to grab onto a bar to break his stride, trying to pull back in her direction. He reached for her and she evaded, jumping forward once more and landing back on ground level. She pushed off the ground with her hands and sprinted back around the loop.

He followed with a big grin, clearly enjoying the game. Edelgard was here to win. She focused as she put more distance between them.

“Hold up now, this lady is putting on the jets, and she’s nearing in on a minute and a half.” Balthus said.

“I hope Jackhammer didn’t skip leg day, she certainly didn't.” Lysithea added.

As they rounded into the section of criss-crossing hurdles, he started to make up a bit of ground, and as she bobbed between the first two she juked once more, doubling back and sliding under the hurdle behind her as he tried to catch up, his body weight now facing the wrong way. The crowd broke out in ‘Ohhhhh’s’ and cheers.

Edelgard smirked, knowing she’d got him. Her coach always taught her the importance of turning your hips, and he had over-committed. That gave her time to start peeling back the other way as the 2-minute mark was nearing in. Jackhamer was slowing down.

He came to a pause, hands on his hips, and the announcers were ready to sub in another tagger.

“Let’s give our bigman a break, she’s running him wild.” Balthus announced as Jackhammer brushed the sweat off the back of his head and gave a two finger salute to the competitor that had evaded him for over a minute, before springing over the barricades and shrugging to the bench of the competitors. “On deck next, making their first appearance we’ve got-”

“Hang on there Balthus, I think Demon wants to run again.” Claude cut him off, watching as the mysterious tagger had all but sprung off the bench and vaulted the barricade, running across the space.

Byleth had decided... she wanted in. And now she had hopped the hurdles bound the platforms and came to stand on a raise level with a pole she leaned against, like a Captain on the end of his boat. She looked across at Edelgard, who had also climbed to a platform in the brief time and the girl looked surprised to see her.

She gave a coy look to the red-vested competitor who’s surprise turned to a playful smile, and that was what it was… that playful challenge that said ‘watch me’ was all Byleth had been able to think about since the round had started. She wanted to play along. So she descended and pursued in a flash. As she neared the platform she was on she saw Edelgard, the girl in red, get one of those challenging looks as she did something unexpected and attempted to vault over the Demon.

Byleth smiled. The game had changed again. She turned immediately and cut back right on the girls heels as she tried to put space between them.

Edelgard was feeling the fatigue starting to catch up, and she saw the time clock ticking. She was only about 10 seconds away from the bonus point. But now… she had Demon chasing her. And even though she proved a greater challenge than Jackhammer, Edelgard found herself smiling. Her heart was beating a mile a minute in her chest, and it wasn’t just the running that was doing that to her it. It was… exhilarating.

She, crooked a turn, and felt the wisp of air as Demon reached where she’d been, and grabbed a pole to slingshot her momentum away. Demon slid to a stop on her heels, letting herself cut her momentum short and leaned to push off the ground, springing back toward her prey. Her smile grew ever more, little by little as the second ticked. 5 seconds left. Edelgard could feel her right behind her as she rounded toward the hurdles yet again and slid under the nearest, hoping it’d be enough to clench that extra point. What she didn’t see until it was too late was Demon flipping herself off the hurdle, turning herself in the air, and coming to land, nearly on top of her, their faces mere inches apart as Edelgard came to a stop on the floor and froze, Demon catching herself on her hands over top of her. Edelgard’s breathing had risen in the athletic endeavor, chest rising and falling as she was essentially pinned, and all she could do was stare.

She felt her cheeks flush at what she told herself was adrenaline, but was beginning to suspect was something else.

Demon’s smile stayed and she tilted her head, glancing her eyes to the clock and seeing it hit 1:59… and she paused. She looked back to Edelgard who still looked nearly dazed beneath her. Heart beating rapidly. _Gods, that mesh window left nothing to the imagination..._

2:00 flashed across the screen and Demon reached forward, grabbing the end of her tag and pulling as the stands cheered and the announcers broke into chatter, but Edelgard didn’t hear any of it. Her hearing seemed to fade away as she stared into that galactic gaze. This girl was something... her head tilted to the side like a curious cat. Her eyes still shining with excitement from the chase. Her lips pulled in a slight smile... and then Edelgard's hearing returned as the one gentle voice above her called out.

“Hi.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hey hope you had fun with that one! I know I did 😁  
> There may be a part 2 to this with no certain timeline (got a bunch of other things working on in the mean time 😅)  
> But was really nice to just write something goofier, and had a bunch of fun telling tidbits back and forth with some of my buddies from our watch party.
> 
> Also! Did you recognize which character each of the taggers were? There’s no good point to just say 'This is Byleth, they call her Demon in this show’ so tried to nail the description. Hope it worked. If not lemme know who slipped through the radar! Uhh, guess that’s all. Have a nice day ❤️


End file.
